This declaration of concern, written after the United States bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, offers true insight into the Manhattan Project, an atomic development program led by the United States. The “Preliminary Statement of the Association of Manhattan District Scientists” emphasizes the need to control atomic weaponry and acknowledge its consequences. The scientists warned of the havoc that nuclear weapons could wreak if not handled with extreme care and consideration. They also stressed their “very special responsibility to the people of America . . . because of our special awareness of the possibilities of atomic energy for the advance of our civilization or its utter destruction.”

A heavily edited draft of the statement was found among the photographs and personal accounts of Mildred Goldberg, a Manhattan Project secretary. Goldberg unknowingly became a key contributor to the development of the atomic bomb as she typed out and organized the scientists’ notes. She described a pleasant work environment and expressed glowing admiration of the men she worked for—including Irving Kaplan, Francis Bonner, Andre J. De Bethune, William Nierenberg, and Howard Levi. This statement’s significance weighs even more heavily when one considers that this warning was written during a time when the policies for atomic energy were in their infancy.

A full transcript is available.